Tie-plate.



4W. MORE-B.

TIE PLATE.

APPLIGATION FILED JANJZ. 1910.

Patented Apr. 26, 1910.

INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIS lVIcKEE, OF ELYRIA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO ELYRIA IRON AND STEELCOMPANY, OF ELYRIA, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

TIE-PLATE.

Specification f Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 26, 1910.

Application led January 12, 1910. Serial No. 537,615.

To all whom 'it may concern: Be it known that I, IVJLLrs MoKnn, .aresidentof Elyria, in the county of Lorain and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Tie-Plates; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof.

lWIy invention relates to tie-plates, and has special reference to whatare known as tieplates for use in connection with railway rails.

The object of my invention is to provide a cheap, simple and efficientform of a tieplate, which will allow for the proper supporting of therail thereon, will maintain the rail and plate in their proper positionswhen on the tie, and will enable the securing ofthe rail thereon invarious variations of thickness of rail base or flange, as well as onewhich will allow the rail to be removed at one side of the same whendesired for any purpose without interfering with to any great extent, orremoving the rail securing .spikes at the other side of the same.

My invention consists, generally stated, in the novel arrangement,construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter more specificallyset forth and described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invent-ion appertains toconstruct and use my improved tie-plate, I will describe the same morefully, referring to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is anend elevation of my improved tie-plate, showing' the same in positionwith the rail and tie. F ig. 2 is a top plan view of the plate. Fig. 3is an end elevation of another form of my improved olate.

l Like symbols of reference herein indicate like parts in each ofthefigures of the draw.- mO.

s illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, 1 represents' my improvedtieplate, which is preferably formed of metal, such as steel, and isprovided with the body portion 2 having the rail-bearing surface 3 onthe upper face of the same. On each side of the rail-bearing surface 3are the longitudinal spike-bearing portions 4, which have their topsurfaces 5 formed on the same downward incline and on the same plane asthe upper surface c on the flange o of the rail c to be employedtherewith, as

hereinafter described. One of the spikebearing portions l extendsoutwardly from and forms par-t of the rail-abutting shoulder 6 whichextends upwardly from one side of the rail-bearing surface 3, and suchspikebearing portion has its inclined top surface 5 depressed, as at 7,from saidk shoulder to a point beyond the center line of the spikeemployed therewith, as hereinafter described, while the otherspike-bearing surface is recessed or cut-away, as at 8, in order to forma space 8 between the end of the rail flange o and said bearing surfacewhen the rail a is in place. Jafter the plate 1 has been so formed,spike holes 9v are formed therein in any suitable manner, which holesextend through the bearing portions 4' and body portion 2 on the platefor the reception of the shanks 10 on the-screw-spikes 11, and suchholes are of sufficient size, so that such spike may enter the tie Lemployed therewith at an incline toward the center of the plate andunder the rail a when` the parts are in position. The heads 12 on thespikes 11 are provided with; the flat circular surface 13 on their undersides, so that when the plate 1 is in position on the tie cl, as shownin Fig. and the rail a is in position on the bearing surface 3 of saidplate and against the shoulder 6, the spikes 11 when screwed down to theposition shown will enable the outer portions of their head surfaces 13to be brought into surface contact with and bear against the inclinedsurfaces 5 on the bearing portions of the plate, while the innerportions of said head surfaces will, extend over and be brought intolike contact with the top c on the rail flange b. Ihen the spikes 11 arethus placed in position in connection with the plate 1, rail a and tiecl, a slight space 7 will be formed by the depressed portion 7 on thespike bearing surface 5 of the plate from the shoulder 6 beyond thecenter line of the spike 11 and thereby insure the bearing of the spikehead 12 against the rail flange o on one side of the head and againstthe bearing surface 5 on the opposite side of the same. In case it isdesired to remove the rail a from the platev 1 for any purpose, thescrew-spikes 11 on t-he side-of the plate carrying the cut-away portion8 are removed from the plate 1, rail a and tie d through the holes 9,and then such rail can be slid along its bearing surface 3 onl the 110plate and from under the head 12 on the spike 11 at the other side ofthe same so that the flange Z) on such rail at the cutaway portion canbe lifted through said space 8 formed by such cut-away portion, whichwill free the other side of such rail flange from its spike head 12 andthereby permit the removal of the rail from the plate. In replacing arail on the plate 1, the rail flange on the same can by a reverseoperation be placed in the bearing surface 3 on the plate and slid alongthe same, so that one side of said flange will come under the spike head12 on such side, while the cut-away portion 8 on the other side of theplate will enable the rail to be dropped down onto its bearing surface 3and thereby allow the rail flange at the other side of the plate to comeagainst the shoulder 6 and under the spike head 12. lVhe-n the rail a isthus placed in position on the'plate 1, the other spikes 11 are againinserted in the holes 9 and through the bearing portion 4 and space 8formed by the cut-away por tion 8 on the plate and into the tie c sothat the heads 12 on such spikes will bear against the bearing surface 5and rail flange b, as before described. It will be evident that in thusremoving the rail a from the plate 1 the spike 11 adjacent to theshoulder 6 on said plate can be retained in its original securingposition if desired in such rail removal and in the insertion of a rail,or if desired, the spike can be slightly raised for such removal, andthen after the insertion of the rail to place on the plate such spikecan be forced down to place for engagement with its bearing surface 5and rail flange b, as before described.

In Fig. 3, my improved tie-plate 1 is shown as being provided with thedepressed portions 7 on each of its spike bearing portions 4 to form thespace 7 between the spike heads 12 and said bearing portions on bothsides of the plate, in which case such plate will have a. shoulder 6 oneach side of its rail-bearing surface 3, and the cut-away portion 8 onsaid plate to form the space 8 will be dispensed with. Ribs 14 can alsobe formed on the under side of the plate, as shown in said figure andrunning longitudinally of the same for taking into the tie and thedepressions 15, shown in said ligure by dotted lines can also be formedin said plate to lighten the same.

Various other modifications and changes in the design and constructionof my improved tie-plate may be resorted to without departing from thespirit of the invention, or sacrificing any of its advantages.

It will thus be seen that my improved tieplate can be formed by straightrolling from a metal billet or bar, and into lengths for the propershape required easily and quickly and then such lengths cut across thesame in any suitable manner to form the plate, and that such plate canbe formed by other methods or processes and from materials, other thansteel, if desired. The plate so formed will enable the spike heads tobear g directly against their bearing surfaces and rail flange at alltimes and through various slight variations in thickness of such railflange due to the mill practice in rolling such rail, as well asenabling the rail to be re- I moved and inserted on the plate withoutnecessitating the removal of the spikes at one side of the same. 1t willalso be seen that my improved tie-plate will give a broad bearingsurface for the spike heads when the spikes are in position for securingthe rail and plate together on the tie and will enable such heads to bedrawn down firmly on their plate bearing surfaces and also upon the railflange at all times through the recessed portion in the bearing surfacesbeing outwardly or beyond the center line of the spike holes.

lVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis- 1. A tie-plate for rails provided with base flanges, said platehaving a rail abutting shoulder on the same, and a bearing surfacebeyond said shoulder and having its top surface on the same plane as theupper surface of the rail flange for forming a surface contact with thespike-head, said surface having a depressed portion thereon to forni aspace between said rail flange and said bearing surface for permittingsaid head to engage with the rail flange.

2. A tie-plate for rails provided with base flanges, said plate having arail abutting shoulder thereon and spike holes within the plate, and abearing portion beyond said shoulder and having its top surface on thesame plane as the upper surface of the rail flange for forming a surfacecontact with the Spikehead, said surface having a depressed portionthereon to form a space between said rail flange and said bearingsurface and extending outwardly of the center line of said holes forpermitting said head to engage with the rail flange.

3. A tie-plate for rails provided with base flanges, said plate having arail abutting shoulder at one side of the same and a bearing surfacebeyond said shoulder, and a bearing surface on the other side of theplate and in the same position with the first named bearing surface withrespect to the rail and both of said surfaces having their top surfacesin the same plane as the upper surface of the rail flange for forming asurface contact with the fiat under face of a spike-head, said lastnamed surface being provided with a recessed portion at its inner sideto form a space between said surface and the rail flange for the removaland insertion of the rail.

4. A tie-plate for rails provided With base flanges having inclinedupper surfaces, said plate having a rail abutting shoulder on the saine,and a bearing portion beyond said shoulder and having its top surfaceinclined on the saine angle as the upper surface of the rail flange andin the saine plane for forming a surface contact With the spike head,said surface having a depressed portion thereon to form a space betweensaid rail flange and said bearing surface for perniitting said head toengage with the rail flange.

A tie-plate for rails provided with base flanges having inclined uppersurfaces, said plate having a rail abutting shoulder thereon andspike-holes Within the plate, and a bearing portion beyond said shoulderand having its top surface inclined on the same angle as the uppersurface of the rail flange and in the same plane for forming a surfacecontact With the spike head, said surface having a depressed portionthereon to form a space between said rail flange and said bearingsurface and extending outwardly of the center line of said holes forpermitting said head to engage with the rail flange.

6. A tie-plate forrails provided with base flanges having inclined uppersurfaces, said plate having a rail abutting shoulder at one 30 side ofthe same and a bearing surface beyond said shoulder, and a bearingsurface on the other side of the plate in the same position as the lirstnamed bearing surface with respect to the rail and both of said surfaceshaving their top surfaces inclined in the same angle as the uppersurface of the rail flange and in the same plane for forming a surfacecontact With the fiat under face of a spike-head, said last namedsurface being provided with a recessed portion at its inner side to forma space between said surface and the rail flange for the removal andinsertion of the rail.

In testimony whereof, I, the said lVILLi's MCKEE, have hereunto set myhand.

WILLIS MGKEE. Witnesses:

L. A. OBITTS, J. L. BIRDsALL.

